


Appellations

by Reccea



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: First Time, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-31
Updated: 2009-12-31
Packaged: 2017-10-05 12:54:45
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/41945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reccea/pseuds/Reccea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Morgan had a thing for nicknames, that much was clear.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Appellations

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Имена](https://archiveofourown.org/works/923518) by [Rassda](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rassda/pseuds/Rassda)



The first time Morgan called Reid "pretty boy", Reid spilled coffee all over himself.

Reid had been called a great _many_ things in his life- "kid" and "boy" the favorites by a large margin- but he'd never been called pretty before and he just hadn't been prepared.

Morgan looked at Reid's previously full mug to his pants and plaid button-up. He clapped Reid on the back and said, "Don't worry, no one will even notice the stain." Which was kind and also possibly true. But sincerely diminished the effect of the word pretty.

So Reid cleaned himself up with paper towels, refilled his mug, and was very careful to wait until he was properly dry before coming out from around his desk.

*

The second time Morgan called Reid "pretty boy" Reid was regrettably no more prepared than the first time but happily was not in the vicinity of any liquid. He stumbled on a tree root instead and was saved from going face first in the dirt by Derek's sure grip on his arm.

Reid smiled as brightly as he could, because he found things were less embarrassing if he chose not to _act_ embarrassed. Derek shook his head, smiling in return. "You be careful with those tree roots."

Reid shrugged, and gestured to the general lay of the land. "Due to their horizontal growth pattern, nearly 99 percent of a tree's root mass is usually located in the top three feet of soil."

Derek shook his head- in a way Reid was completely accustomed to- and then he was on his phone to Garcia, calling her "baby girl" and Reid relaxed. Morgan had a thing for nicknames, that much was clear, and Reid was apparently just being fully assimilated into the familial structure of the team.

*

The third time Morgan called him "pretty boy" Reid did not spill coffee on himself and he did not fall down. He kept on with his train of thought and within seconds was explaining the nurturing habits of gorillas as it related to the subject at hand. (Which it did, even if he had to outline that connection directly after, to all the participants involved.)

And after that, for approximately two and half years, Reid only noticed Morgan's use of the nickname to the point that he had a running tally of the incidents but no longer a running tally of his reactions. The one reaction he did log was the time that Morgan directly referred to him as pretty.

"Just because you're pretty, doesn't mean you always get your way."

Reid had said, after a brief pause for thought, "Actually, I tend to only get my way when--"

And Morgan had laughed and shook his shoulder and ploughed them headlong into a conversation with the neighbors adjacent to that particular crime scene. One of which offered Reid cookies. And Reid said, hours later, "I believe my appeal comes more from a misjudgment on my age or possibly a concern for my metabolism. I'm not entirely sure that my physical attractiveness is at all a factor in most situations we encounter."

He said this on the jet, finger holding his page in _David Copperfield_, sitting next to Morgan but near enough to JJ and Hotch for them both to look up at the comment.

JJ turned to Morgan and asked, "Someone try to feed him again?"

Which turned into an entire flight of stories for Prentiss's benefit regarding Reid's grossly overstated appeal to elderly and middle aged women. Reid was forced to defend his metabolism, his ability to feed himself, and also his ability to remember to eat. But they were all smiling and laughing on the way back from a case that left nothing to smile about so Reid found he did not exactly mind.

*

In the months following Tobias Henkel, and Raphael, and the Dilaudid, Morgan did not call him "pretty boy". And Reid did not particularly care enough to notice. He only noticed when it finally happened again, accompanied by a shoulder squeeze and easy smile. Reid's head slotted it as time 135 and flagged the space between 134 and 135 to be approximately four months and one week.

It was in that blink of an eye that Reid overfilled his mug, getting coffee on the counter but not on himself. No one noticed and overall he was pleased both with his depth of reaction and with growing ability to avoid detection.

Morgan's references to Reid's general attractiveness increased by a not insignificant percentage in the following months. Reid did not think that the increase in occurrences was due to a stressor of any kind but rather to a need to make up for lost time. Also, a Mrs. Debusey on Alcott Lane told him he was a very lovely young man and the resulting references to that event counted for a portion of the increase.

What Reid did consider worthy of note was that other people seemed to have picked up on the increase as well. Garcia had taken to asking Reid to pass along not-precisely lewd messages. JJ had gotten a very particular and unfamiliar smile on her face whenever Morgan made any comments not directly case related to Reid.

Hotch had become prone to assessing looks, which was the only change both Reid and Morgan appeared to notice. In Hotch's presence any overly familiar comments from Morgan were curbed, as was direct physical contact.

On a case in Peoria, Reid found himself involved in a conversation between officers regarding the possibilities of a workplace romance between one of the officers and a female officer not in the room. Reid was compelled to list the statistics, out of a desire to be helpful, and only stammered slightly when his eyes met Morgan's.

It was in that moment that Reid compiled the assessing looks, unfamiliar smiles, lewd comments, warm touches and heavy silences into a workable theory. One that he realized every other member of the team had come to before him.

"Oh," he said, to no one in particular. "Oh."

Reid worked exceptionally well within specific parameters. Outside of those parameters he was faced with the handicaps of a childhood spent among adults and no decent romantic role models to speak of. With enough information he could predict the actions of any given unsub but he had not ever worked out exactly how to successfully ask someone out on a date.

Dating statistics were not a good conversation starter, not because he didn't think they were, in their own way, romantic, but more because the statistics were not in his favor. Research was unhelpful due to most advice being highly subjective and not at all applicable to his particular situation. He proposed and dismissed half a dozen options before settling on his only stand by. A card trick.

*

"Pick a card, any card," is a simple enough beginning. Normally he uses it on JJ or Garcia, never on Prentiss and only once with Elle.

"Well, well." Morgan gives him a lopsided smile.

Reid shuffles the cards once more for good measure and then spreads the deck thin between his fingers. Everyone else but Hotch has gone home, jet lagged and exhausted from 29 straight hours of work. Hotch has not looked up from his paperwork in forty minutes and Reid knows he has only a small window, but a window of opportunity nonetheless.

Morgan reaches out, hand hovering indecisively for a moment, before taking a card close enough to Reid's right hand that their thumbs brush.

"Now, look at the card," Reid instructs. Morgan looks at his card once before letting Reid fold it back into the deck. He shuffles and folds, the ridges of the cards smooth against his fingers, save for the odd men out. He adjusts the deck, odd men against Derek's chosen. He pulls the deck apart, careful so that the tickets are against Derek's card but low enough for the number to still be seen

"Is this your card?" he asks, smiling not a little hopefully.

Derek reaches out, collecting the tickets and the card- a two of hearts- and says, "Not bad, pretty boy."

Reid shuffles the deck, absent a card, once before setting it to the side.

Derek closes the file on his desk and sets the tickets down on top, index finger tracing the date. "Those are good seats, Reid." He glances behind Reid in Hotch's direction, and then gives Reid an easy smile. "You know, the last time I tried to do something during our vacation time it didn't go so well."

"It's the first night of vacation," Reid points out. "Statistically, we have a much higher chance of being able to attend on that night than at any point further into the allotted two week period."

Morgan raises his eyebrows, taking the tickets and tucking them into his wallet. "Put a lot of thought into this?"

"Yes," Reid says, without hesitation.

Morgan stands up, puts his wallet into his back pocket, and grabs the jacket draped across the back of his chair. "Vacation's three weeks away," he says. He grabs Reid's arm and pulls him up.

"Right, yes," Reid agrees, because it is.

Morgan chuckles, shaking his head and looking, well, happy. "Get your coat, Reid."

Reid grabs his coat and his bag, folding and sorting quickly through the files left on his desk. When he turns Morgan is right behind him. "Uh," Reid says, question on the tip of his tongue.

"We don't need to wait three weeks for dinner," Morgan says.

"Oh," Reid smiles, can't stop himself and doesn't even try.

Morgan hooks an arm around Reid's shoulders, pulling Reid a little closer and steering him towards the elevator. "Don't tell me you had plans, pretty boy."

"Not specific ones," Reid agrees, letting himself be lead, confident that Morgan will keep him from any errant tree roots on their way.


End file.
